The events of the 1930s, or the Great Depression, were the ones that most affected contemporary America. During the 1920s, America experienced its most prosperous economic period until the stock market crash in 1929. The stock market crash led to a dramatic decline in the U.S. economy. The declining economy has changed the daily lives of Americans. In 1932, Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected president and created the New Deal to provide relief, recovery, and reform. The Depression affected America in the 1930s in every aspect of life and still affects America today. Although contemporary America has been shaped by many events that occurred in the 20th century, America was most influenced by the 1930s due to legislation that improved daily life during the Depression, the effects on the economy, and how the Leisure and entertainment have changed our culture.FDR began to pass new laws and acts to improve the daily life of an American, which had been destroyed due to the depression. Americans began to fall into poverty, and during the economic decline many lost their jobs and homes. In April 1935, “FDR signs legislation creating the Works Progress Administration. The program employs more than 8.5 million people in 3,000 counties nationwide” (http://www.pbs.org). This was the beginning of FDR's progress in improving everyday life. The WPA created jobs for unemployed people. This began to promote general well-being because more and more people began to have jobs to support the economy. One of the greatest acts passed during the Depression, which still impacts us today, is the Social Security Act. Historian Kenneth S. Davis calls the Social Security Act "one of the major turning points in American history" ( http://www.pbs.org). Social Security...... middle of paper.... .. hard times would improve and that prosperity would soon come. Also, like movies and radio, music was an important part of the distraction of the difficult times Americans faced during the Depression. People appreciated the popular music of the 1930s. which was "swing" music. Swing music was played by big bands and was the highest on the music charts. In the literature of the 1930s many working class heroes were trying to make it in America John Steinbeck, The Grapes Of Wrath. This explains that instead of achieving the American Dream, the Joad family faced hard times in English classes across America, The Grapes of Wrath is read to teach students about the effects and history of the Great Depression. in the 1930s. The culture in the 1930s shaped our culture and how we live day to day.